Part 31 (1/2)

”Who allowed this to happen?” she snarled, knowing very well that no one was going to answer. She raked them all with her eyes, and had the satisfaction of seeing them blanch. There had been times when she had punished everyone everyone for misdeeds, and not just the guilty party. She was tempted to do just that right now, and reinforce the lesson in obedience she had just delivered. for misdeeds, and not just the guilty party. She was tempted to do just that right now, and reinforce the lesson in obedience she had just delivered.

But-there was another witness. She dared not give in to her anger around Mero. Not when she was trying to impress him with her charm and gentleness.

”See that the room is clean and refurnished,” she ordered, knowing that everyone within hearing would leap to do just that. Her tempers were too unpredictable to take a chance with. ”And see that everyone on the estate hears about this. I have no wish to see a repet.i.tion of this incident.”

She picked one servant at random and directed him to see to Mero. He scuttled to the halfblood's side and helped him sit up. She stood by with a look of a.s.sumed concern while the slave checked Mero for injuries.

Fortunately for the halfblood, Laras had not even begun to punish him. All his hurts were superficial, and the slave helped him to his feet. Triana was a little gratified at his reaction of shock and nausea-it gave her a little thrill of power, but she didn't want that particular reaction to last. She took his arm as soon as the slave released him, and reexerted the glamorie, striving to wind him back to his former state of bemused contentment. He must come to see this as her her protecting protecting him him from a slave who was crazed, an irrational man who could not be reasoned with. from a slave who was crazed, an irrational man who could not be reasoned with.

She didn't even have to say anything; she just cooed over him and wove her magic, and before she returned him to his quarters for rest, he was as gla.s.sy-eyed as ever.

He was more than beglamored, she thought contentedly. He was half in love with her. This was going to work out very well-especially if she could figure out how to get rid of Valyn and the other two. Permanently, if possible. And soon.

Keman paced the hardwood floor of his enormous, luxurious room, and fretted. From time to time he glanced out the window, but the view of the ethereal lighted gardens gave him no answers.

Nothing was going right. Shana spent all her time in the library, and when she did come out, he got the feeling that she was hiding something from him. Valyn seemed to have lost all of his earlier fervor for the cause of humans and halfbloods, and acted as if he wasn't quite sure where he belonged anymore. And Mero-Mero was totally changed. He paid no attention to Shana, he was no longer practicing combined magics, only elven ones, and Valyn had confessed that he wasn't even confiding in his cousin anymore. And it was all the fault of that Triana- She was trying to split them up, Keman thought desperately, kicking aside a footstool covered in emerald velvet. She was trying to make the group fall apart, and she was working on Mero as the weakest of the lot.

Keman had tried to wake him up; had tried to make him see what Triana was up to, but he had dismissed the dragon's attempts at reason with a shrug. He wouldn't even argue the point. He just ignored it.

Finally Keman had tried to distract Triana from her goal by making a play for her himself. I thought it would be easy thought it would be easy , he recalled ruefully. , he recalled ruefully. After all, she had all those men After all, she had all those men - - she should have been willing to go after anything that looked good, right she should have been willing to go after anything that looked good, right? He'd thought that when Mero saw her casting him aside for a new conquest, his friend would see what the elven woman was really like. He had brought her presents, tried to engage her in conversation when she was plainly on her way to a meeting with Shadow, and did his level best to charm her. But all he really knew of mating were dragon-courts.h.i.+p ways.

He flushed at the memory of his clumsy attempts at seduction. The approaches a dragon considered subtle-a few presents, which were followed, if they were successful, by the direct question of ”Do we mate in the air or on the ground?”-were pretty inept by elven standards. Triana laughed at me Triana laughed at me . He flushed again at the recollection of Triana's reaction. She didn't even say ”no”-she'd just laughed at him. . He flushed again at the recollection of Triana's reaction. She didn't even say ”no”-she'd just laughed at him.

It couldn't have been his disguise-he'd chosen to appear as if he had full elven blood, and he had, in fact, modeled his disguise on several young elven lords thought particularly handsome. It had to have been his manner.

At least he'd amused her. He sighed. He hadn't done anything but but amuse her, though. And he hadn't gotten his message across to Mero. Mero had laughed at him right along with Triana. amuse her, though. And he hadn't gotten his message across to Mero. Mero had laughed at him right along with Triana.

He had gone to Valyn then, but it hadn't done a bit of good except to worry him more. Valyn was helpless where his cousin was concerned.

And Shana was angry. Very angry. He could tell by the way she avoided everyone and everything and kept herself locked away in the library. He surmised that Shadow had said or done something to her that made her angry, but he couldn't imagine what it was.

And when he asked her what was wrong, she acted as if she didn't care. Which left him unable to think of any solutions to what was obviously-at least, to him-a problem.

He looked up in startlement from his pacing, as someone walked through the door without even tapping on the frame, then closed it behind himself and stood in the shadows where the light from Keman's single glow didn't quite reach. There was no mistaking who it was, though. Keman was surprised to see that his visitor was Mero.

”Keman-have you got some time to spare?” the halfblood asked hesitantly, s.h.i.+fting his weight from foot to foot uncertainly as if he wasn't sure he was welcome, and giving the dragon a slow, sheepish smile. ”I seem to have gotten myself into a bit of a mess.”

Keman looked from him to the door, Mero nodded, and turned to lock it behind himself. ”That should be sufficient to keep us from being disturbed,” Mero told him. As he turned back, Keman finally noticed the bruises on his face, and instantly surmised from the way he was walking that there were more like them under his clothing.

What-Fire and Rain! Someone had been beating him!

”What happened to you?” the dragon blurted, frozen with shock. Mero limped over to him and looked around for somewhere to sit.

”One of Triana's old harem decided he didn't like being put away,” the young man said casually, and eased himself down into one of Keman's armchairs. ”He decided that if I wasn't around anymore, Triana would come back to her old ways. The Lady disagreed with his approach-and he is even now being shoveled into a very small sack for disposal.”

The young man's face and hands betrayed the casual tone of his words; his hands were shaking, his face was white, and his expression was set in a patently forced smile.

He looked up at Keman, who was slowly lowering himself into the chair opposite him, and his eyes were dark, and full of something Keman couldn't read. Pain. And something else. ”I never saw an elven lord actually kill kill someone before,” he said forlornly. ”I've seen them hurt plenty of people, but I never saw one someone before,” he said forlornly. ”I've seen them hurt plenty of people, but I never saw one kill kill someone. And she did it the way you or I might squash a bug.” someone. And she did it the way you or I might squash a bug.”

Keman didn't know quite what to say, so he waited for Shadow to continue. Finally the halfblood's shoulders relaxed and he sighed as he sat back into the armchair.

”Elven lords-the fullbloods-they're really funny that way. They can convince you that they're feeling something when they're not, but they can't can't convince you they're feeling something when they convince you they're feeling something when they are are .” .”

Keman tried to follow the logic of that sentence. ”I don't understand,” he replied, shaking his head in confusion.

”They can't show their feelings; they're trained out of it,” Mero replied, running his hand through his hair. ”I should have known, I really should have known, that when Triana was acting like I was the only man in the universe she was faking it. Valyn, he's that way, and I've lived with him all my life, so I should have known known . The stronger an elven lord feels about something, the colder he gets on the outside.” . The stronger an elven lord feels about something, the colder he gets on the outside.”

Suddenly that explained a great deal to Keman. ”Shana's the opposite-but she was raised by us,” he pointed out.

Mero smiled. ”Doesn't hide anything anything , does she? No, Valyn has been getting more and more like a statue, and that should have told me something. And it didn't.” , does she? No, Valyn has been getting more and more like a statue, and that should have told me something. And it didn't.”

Keman didn't reply, just looked attentive.

”I doubt he meant it that way, but that fellow who tried to beat me into oblivion did me a good turn. He broke what I think was a half-formed glamorie on me, Keman. I'm sorry I've been such an idiot over Triana. Now I see what you were trying to tell me. Do you know, I actually had myself convinced that if I could somehow make myself into a really good imitation elven lord that she'd have me?”

Keman tilted his head to one side. ”I had guessed something like that was going on. But I am not the one you should be apologizing to. You made Shana very angry with you, though I don't know why. And Valyn is not happy either.”

Mero rubbed his temples with his fingertips. ”I don't know what Shana's problem is, honestly. I'm not sure it has anything to do with Triana, or if it does, that's only part of it.”

”I don't always understand her either,” Keman replied ruefully, when Mero looked up at him.

Mero sighed. ”I've been ignoring all of you, actually. Triana's been taking me everywhere, as if I was a lover or a mate. We've hunted or ridden over every thumb-length of this estate, she did some magic tricks for me-she built a mountain and flew us both up to the top for a picnic.”

”I remember that. Afterwards she slept for two days,” Keman said absently. ”I didn't know elves had to sleep after doing magic.”

Mero wasn't paying attention. ”I thought that meant she loved me, so I started asking her to take me places she could only take one of the elven lords. And she did, she took me to a gladiator duel, and she took me to a Council meeting. I really thought she cared for me.” He hung his head. ”I should have known. It was all a lie, a ploy. She's just like all those women in the harem who try to eliminate each other to get positions as favorites. There isn't one of them that really cares for another person, just what that person can do for her.”

”What does she want?” Keman asked reasonably. Mero looked up, startled.

”I don't know,” he admitted. ”All that time with her, and I don't know.”

”It must be something important for her to be taking so much time with you,” Keman pointed out. ”And using a glamorie to get you, too-”

”Oh, that's not a big thing.” Mero dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. ”I half think Valyn used a glamorie on me to get me to handfast to Shana. Elves do that sort of thing all the time.”

”I don't know about that,” Keman said reluctantly. ”I wouldn't say that. There are lots of other things she could have done to you, you know, including ignoring you. If she wanted to control you, she could have subst.i.tuted her collar for the one you're wearing. She's spent a lot of time and effort on this one spell, and it has to be because she wants something important from you, don't you think?”

”That is is the purpose of a glamorie,” Mero replied thoughtfully, looking past Keman to the darkening window. ”But maybe you're right. I know I had a kind of fight with Shana over it. She kept saying Triana was trying to get something from me, and I didn't believe her.” the purpose of a glamorie,” Mero replied thoughtfully, looking past Keman to the darkening window. ”But maybe you're right. I know I had a kind of fight with Shana over it. She kept saying Triana was trying to get something from me, and I didn't believe her.”

”Are you going to be able to keep your mind free now that you know?” Keman asked, dreading the answer. ”If she wants something from you, she isn't going to give up now.”

”I think I can,” Mero said, after a long moment of thought. ”I really think I can. And if I can can , then I can find out what it is she wants.” , then I can find out what it is she wants.”

”Is that such a good idea?” Keman asked doubtfully.

”I think I'm going to have to,” Mere said, with a grimace. He stood up. ”Thanks, Keman. Thanks for not telling me to go lose myself.”